From lean to agile manufacturing

Lean production, one of the most heavily promoted of manufacturing strategies, is modeled on a rigid supply chain that takes years to develop. It is often predicted, however, that markets will become more turbulent and product life cycles shorter. The author considers whether lean production will be sufficient or indeed able to cope with the new challenges, and, if not, then what is required of a production system. He starts by examining the mindsets of different ways of competing in the next generation. While leanness is now widely understood, agility is an emerging concept that is still rather woolly. So agility is given more space. Evidence from research by the author and others is presented. The paper ends with conclusions for manufacturing strategy development